Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG

Ireland’s motorists face more penalty points for speeding from Friday

 

DRIVERS FACE INCREASES IN PENALTY POINTS FOR CERTAIN OFFENCES FROM THIS FRIDAY. NOVICE DRIVERS MUST DISPLAY ‘N’ PLATE UNDER NEW RULES

New drivers will have to display a special ‘N’ plate – indicating they are novices – for two years after they get a licence, under changes to the law announced today.

Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe also announced increases in the number of penalty points attaching to certain motoring offences, including an increase to three points from two for speeding.

The changes, under the Road Traffic Act 2014, take effect from this Friday, August 1st.

“From Friday, penalty points for speeding, holding a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seat belt or not using child restraints will increase from two points to three, provided the fixed charge is paid within the stipulated period,” Mr Donohoe said.

For those who do not pay the fixed charge and are subsequently convicted in Court, the points will increase from four to five.

“As these offences are major contributory factors to road traffic collisions, increases in these areas are being introduced first. Further increases in penalty points for other road traffic offences will be introduced before the end of the year.”

The Minister said the increases he had signed into effect would impact on a number of areas which were “very serious” and which could have fatal consequences.

“The job of making our roads safer involves a wide range of measures, and the penalty points system has proven to be an important component in this process.

“ We have seen a culture change in recent years in attitudes to drink driving and I want to see the same change in attitude where speeding, using phones while driving and wearing seat belts are concerned.”

He said the measures would help to reinforce that change.

The new category of ‘novice’ driver also comes into effect on Friday.

Those who receive a first full licence from that date will be considered as novice drivers for their first two years.

They will be required to display an N-plate during that time.

“Under the terms of the Act, Novices will face disqualification from driving for six months if they reach seven penalty points, as opposed to the current 12,” the Minister said.

The seven-point limit will also apply to people who get their first learner permit on or after August 1st.

A person who is already a learner will remain on the 12-point limit while they are a learner and when they become a novice.

A person already in their first two years of a full licence before this Friday will not be required to display an N-plate and will not be subject to the seven-point limit.

Novice drivers, like learners, will be subject to lower alcohol limits and they may not act as accompanying drivers for learners while they are novice drivers.

Mr Donohoe said these were important road safety measures that formed part of the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system.

HE URGED ROAD USERS TO EXERCISE GREATER CARE ON THE ROADS.

“These new measures will put road safety at the top of people’s minds and, I hope, bring about a greater culture of compliance with our life saving rules of the roads.

“It must be remembered that the penalty points system is a preventative road safety measure. If you don’t want to get points on your licence or a fine, then don’t speed, don’t use your mobile phone while driving and always wear your seatbelt, ensuring others in the car, particularly children are wearing theirs too.”

A total of 19 people died on the State’s roads in August last year, according to official Garda figures. This compared to 12 in August 2012.

Last year saw a 17 per cent increase in road deaths to 190, after a steady decline from 279 deaths in 2008.

Ireland’s Live Register numbers down 8.5% year-on-year  ‘CSO figures show’

  

The majority of those on the Live Register are male, however that figure has been falling at a faster rate than female claimants.

The number of people on the Live Register was 8.5% lower in July when compared to the same month of 2013, according to the Central Statistics Office.

There were 3,400 fewer claimants in July when compared to June, according to the CSO, bringing the total figure to 382,800 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

IN JULY 2013 THE SAME FIGURE STOOD AT 419,000.

As a result, the unemployment rate now stands at 11.5% – down 0.1% on last month’s figure and 0.6% lower than in January.

The majority of those on the Live Register – 53.4% – were categorised as short term claimants by the end of July, down slightly on the same month of last year.

During that time, there has been a 17% fall in the number of people claiming on the Live Register for a year or less, according to the CSO, while long-term claimants are 5.7% lower.

Meanwhile, the number of males on the Live Register has fallen by 10.7% in the year to July, while the number of females was 4.9% lower on an annual basis.

5 portions of Fruits and Vegetables a day can lower your risk of Death

  

AN APPLE (OR FIVE) A DAY MAY DO MORE THAN KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY

We all know the cliche “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” but in recent years, many studies have taken that promise even further, linking the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables to a reduced risk of mortality—especially from heart disease and cancer.

In a review and analysis of such studies published in The BMJ, researchers from China and the U.S. found that indeed, consuming fruits and vegetables is correlated with a lower risk of death in some cases—but that the association is not consistent for all types of death.

The researchers looked at 16 studies, which included a total of 833,234 participants, 56,423 of whom died. In order to minimize bias, investigators took into account various differences in study design and quality, and analyzed subgroups to confirm that results did not vary significantly by location.

Consuming more fruits and vegetables was significantly associated with a reduced risk of death from most causes. The average risk of death from all causes was lowered by 5% for each additional daily serving of fruit and vegetables, and the risk for cardiovascular death was reduced by 4 percent.

Interestingly, researchers found that once you reach five portions of fruits and vegetables per day, more of the healthy foods will not further reduce the risk of death.

This contradicts another recent study published in The BMJ’s Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that suggested seven or more daily portions of fruits and vegetables were linked to lowest risk of death. However, researchers said studies may differ in their classifications of fruits and vegetables, and there was room for error in how people reported their eating habits on surveys used.

Eating more fruits and vegetables was not appreciably associated with risk of death from cancer, according to the study. Researchers said more studies are needed to examine specific types of cancer and the role of different groups of fruit and vegetables.

HIQA updates new care standards for elderly people

  

The health safety body HIQA has drawn up new draft quality and safety standards for nursing homes and residential care settings for older people.

The standards are intended to replace the current standards drawn up five years ago, and which are used as the template for the HIQA inspection system for nursing homes and older persons’ care centres.

The new draft standards, HIQA says, take into account feedback from service providers and residents living in these centres, as well as the latest research evidence on optimal care.

The new standards cover areas such as service safety, food quality, privacy and dignity, and efficient governance of care centres.

  HIQA says he revised standards place a stronger focus on quality of life and a person-centred approach to care for all residents – including residents with dementia.

“The standards provide a framework for providers for the continuous development of person-centred, safe and effective residential services.”

HIQA says the standards also provide people living in residential care and their families and/or representatives with a guide as to what they should expect from residential services.

The safety body is seeking feedback on the new draft standards from residents and their families, interested groups, people working in care centres and the general public. Further details atwww.hiqa.ie

Problem middle-aged drinking ‘impairs victims memory in later life’

  

PATTERNS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION MAY HAVE AN IMPACT ON DEMENTIA RISK

Problem drinking in middle age doubles the risk of memory loss in later life, research suggests.

A US study found men and women in their 50s and 60s with a history of alcohol abuse were more likely to have memory problems up to two decades later.

The study, in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, adds to growing evidence that excessive drinking can impair mental processing later.

Researchers say it is a public health issue that needs to be addressed.

Scientists questioned 6,500 US middle-aged adults about their past alcohol consumption.

 THEY WERE ASKED THREE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:

• Had people annoyed them by criticising their drinking?
• Had they ever felt guilty or bad about their drinking?
• Had they ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady nerves or get over a hangover?

Those who answered yes to one of these questions were considered to have a problem with alcohol.

They had more than double the risk of developing severe memory impairment, the study found.

“We know that alcohol is bad for the brain in general, but it’s not just how much you drink but how it affects you,” lead researcher, Dr Iain Lang, from the University of Exeter Medical School, told the BBC.

“The amount that you drink is important – what is also important is if you experience any problems in your drinking or if other people tell you you have a problem.”

He advised drinking within recommended daily and weekly amounts and to cut down if affected by any of the items in the questionnaire, as this could increase dementia risk.

A hidden cost?

Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society charity, said there was a hidden cost of alcohol abuse, given mounting evidence that alcohol misuse can impact on cognition later in life.

“This small study shows that people who admitted to alcohol abuse at some point in their lives were twice as likely to have severe memory problems, and as the research relied on self-reporting that number may be even higher.

“This isn’t to say that people need to abstain from alcohol altogether. As well as eating a healthy diet, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, the odd glass of red wine could even help reduce your risk of developing dementia.”

Dr Eric Karran, science director at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Although studies such as this one can be very useful for observing health trends, it’s important to note that they are not able to show cause and effect, and it’s not clear whether other factors may also have influenced these results.”

16-foot Waves measured in Arctic Ocean where once there was only Ice

REDUCED SEA ICE ALLOWED THE BUILDUP OF HUGE WAVES IN THE BEAUFORT SEA

 

Sixteen-foot waves are buffeting an area of the Arctic Ocean that until recently was permanently covered in sea ice—another sign of a warming climate, scientists say.

Because wave action breaks up sea ice, allowing more sunlight to warm the ocean, it can trigger a cycle that leads to even less ice, more wind, and higher waves. (See “Shrinking Arctic Ice Prompts Drastic Change in National Geographic Atlas.”)

Scientists had never measured waves in the Beaufort Sea, an area north of Alaska, until recently. Permanent sea ice cover prevented their formation. But much of the region is now ice-free by September, and researchers were able to anchor a sensor to measure wave heights in the central Beaufort Sea in 2012.

“It is possible that the increased wave activity will be the feedback mechanism which drives the Arctic system toward an ice-free summer,” write Jim Thomson of the University of Washington in Seattle and Erick Rogers with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Mississippi in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

If winds can blow for a longer distance over the open ocean, they can produce higher and higher waves. Sea ice limits how far winds can blow, thus limiting the formation of waves.

“Future scenarios for reduced seasonal sea ice cover in the Arctic suggest that larger waves are to be expected,” the study authors write. (See “As Sea Ice Shrinks, Can Polar Bears Survive on Land?”)

Big waves could be the new normal in the Arctic, says Darek Bogucki, a physical oceanographer who works in the Arctic but wasn’t involved in the study.

That means changes for shorelines, which could start getting hit with larger and larger waves that speed erosion, he says. It could also change the amount of carbon dioxide being exchanged between the atmosphere and the ocean, potentially triggering the Arctic to release more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

The amount of open water varies annually in the Beaufort, with virtually no open water in April when sea ice is at its maximum, to over 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) during sea ice minimums in September. Although the Arctic has been steadily losing its sea ice cover since the late 1970s, that loss accelerated in 2002. The 16-foot (five-meter) waves the scientists’ instrument picked up occurred during a storm with strong winds on September 18, 2012.       

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Irish Consultant’s may get 25% pay increases

“NOW NECESSARY TO TACKLE CRISIS IN RETAINING SENIOR DOCTORS”

   

A consultant is defending proposals that could see senior doctors offered pay rises of nearly 25%.

Reports at the weekend claimed that revised pay and career structures were put forward by the HSE and government departments last week.

Entry-level consultants who work exclusively in a public hospital are currently paid €116,000.

Dublin-based consultant ophthalmologist Michael O’Keeffe says something has to be done to keep doctors in Ireland.

“Irish doctors are well-qualified and well-regarded abroad. We have a situation where 25% of the jobs in Ireland are unfilled,” he said.

“We’re increasingly putting locums in to fill some of the jobs. We have a crisis and whether we like it or not, we have to solve it if we are to maintain our heath system.”

Dublin and the commuter belt are in line for a property tax cut

 

MINISTER BRENDAN HOWLIN CONFIRMS SEVERAL COUNCILS HAVE ‘SURPLUSES’ TO FUND REDUCTIONS

House owners in Dublin are in line for a full 15% cut in their property tax next year.

In another eight areas around the country, householders can also expect a cut, according to draft calculations for the Government.

A cut of up to 15% in the rate will be possible in Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Cork city, Cork County, Galway city, Kerry and Clare.

The proceeds of the property tax will go directly to councils next year, when local authorities will have the power to cut or increase their property tax rates by 15pc. The 12 councils can cut the rate because they will have a surplus of funding in 2015, when the benefits of the property tax are felt locally.

The other 19 councils will have the same amount of money as this year, so won’t be able to cut their property tax rate.

Public Spending Minister Brendan Howlin has confirmed to the Irish Independent that a number of local authorities will have enough funds from the property tax to cut the rate for homeowners.

“Those that generate sufficient surpluses will be able to do it,” he said.

Although he declined to list the individual areas, he did confirm the rate could be cut in up to a dozen areas.

“YES. OF THAT ORDER,” HE SAID.

However, the Irish Independent seems to have established the identity of the 12 areas from government sources.

Mr Howlin said some of the councils with a surplus won’t have enough to cut by the full 15pc. The minister also said a few councils will have more than enough funds to cut by 15pc, “and still have significant flushness after that”.

Nobody will have to increase the rate in 2015 as the Coalition has ensured no council will be worse off than this year.

The average cost of a Dublin home now stands at €349,000, while the average cost of a home outside the capital is €154,000.

A 15% REDUCTION ON THE PROPERTY TAX WOULD MEAN:

* The property tax on a house worth €150,000-€200,000 would fall from €315 to €268.

* The property tax on a house worth €300,000-€350,000 would reduce from €585 to €497 – a saving of €88.

* The property tax on a house worth €500,000-€550,000 would reduce from €945 to €803 – a saving of €142.

The Government has worked out how much each local authority will receive next year when the property tax goes direct to the local authorities.

The first €4 out of every €5 collected will go straight into the area where it is collected.

The remaining €1 out of every €5 collected will go into a pot to be distributed among the poorer councils.

The exact formula for the distribution of funding is still to be decided.

The final figures will affect which local authorities can cut by the full 15pc without affecting services.

But the four local authorities in Dublin – Dublin City, South Dublin, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire – will be able to cut by 15pc, due to the large population and higher property prices. Indeed, Dun Laoghaire and Fingal county councils will still have several million euro left over.

There was a dispute in the Coalition over the manner in which central funding for councils was being cut as local authorities were benefiting from the property tax.

But these matters have now been resolved and councils will learn in the coming weeks how much money they are in line to get next year.

Mr Howlin said it was appropriate for councils to benefit from the property tax revenues. “What is this about? This is about taking back into the central exchequer the motor tax, which was the main sourcing base for local government fund and replacing it with a true local generated source of funding – the local property tax,” he said

“So it is obviously helping the exchequer at central level by freeing up the motor tax to be deployed centrally and allowing a flexible new source of funding at local level, which I think will bed down over time,” he said.

Mr Howlin said the property tax will give councils more say in how they are funded.

“Local councils have the capacity to spend but not raise money in any real terms, except around the edges.

Internet search engines are both an aid and a danger for people at risk of suicide

  

If someone is thinking about suicide, the Internet often serves as a source of information. The dangerous thing about this is that content containing harmful information that can potentially encourage suicide ranks higher in search engines’ hit lists than sources of help.

These are the findings of a recent study by Benedikt Till and Thomas Niederkrotenthaler from the Institute of Social Medicine at the MedUni Vienna’s Centre for Public Health.

The study, which was published in the August issue of the highly respected “Journal of Clinical Psychiatry”, investigated which websites can be found by searching for information on suicides using popular search engines (Google, Bing/Yahoo) in Austria or the USA.

The positive news about the results is that information of a more protective nature is significantly more plentiful than harmful information, both in Austria and in the USA. In fact the ratio is around 2:1. Consequently, there is on the whole more protective information for those seeking help.

“However the type of website and quality of information found depends greatly on what search terms are used. There is considerably more potentially harmful web content available when method-based search terms are used (such as “how do I hang myself?”) and more potentially protective content with help-orientated terms (e.g. “suicide help”),” notes Thomas Niederkrotenthaler. “People at greater risk of suicide probably use method-based terms, which is why it is extremely relevant what appears in the search lists,” continues Niederkrotenthaler.

“Websites also appear much earlier in the search list – i.e. they are ranked higher in the search engine results – the more harmful and less positive characteristics they have,” adds Benedikt Till. According to the study’s authors, this is dangerous for affected individuals because information with harmful content is generally easier to find in search engines than information with a more protective character. The ratio of harmful to protective content is therefore only positive at first glance.

Specific improvements can be achieved using simple means

The study also makes it clear that, in terms of suicide prevention on the Internet – especially in Austria – there is still room for improvement in relation to user-friendliness and rankings. By way of a specific improvement, the study authors recommend that operators of prevention websites improve the rankings of their own websites for searches performed using method-oriented search terms. This can be achieved partly by enabling ads for their website to appear when search terms of this kind are entered, but also by enhancing their own website with suitable meta tags (e.g. suicide methods).

Integration of social media and active collaboration with search engines can be useful

The integration of social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) or a higher number of links leading to the website (e.g. through cooperation with other aid organisations) can help to further improve an organisation’s ranking in the search engines. According to the two researchers, talks are also currently ongoing with Google about ways to rank websites about suicide prevention more effectively. In some countries, Google already allows the pop-up of prevention websites when certain terms are entered. “In Austria, for example, a search for “suicide” returns a link to the crisis intervention centre. These links also need to be used more frequently for other terms,” says Till.

Results of relevance to the entire German-speaking region

The study’s significance also lies in the fact that the relevance of the study results goes way beyond the comparison of the USA and Austria. This is because 66.6% of the websites in the Austrian results were from Germany, 2.4% from Switzerland and only 21.2% came from Austria. In searches using US search engines, 80.6% of the results came from the USA, 5.6% came from the UK, 4.5% from Australia and 2.8% from Canada. This study is therefore a comparison between the English and German-speaking regions. The study was part of a project sponsored by the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) entitled “Representations and Impacts of Suicide-Related Websites” (project leader: Thomas Niederkrotenthaler).

A SUGAR-FREE DIET ALERT:

Yes, sugar is bad for you… but cutting it out totally “could kill you, experts warn”

 

•  UN has warned sugar could be ‘new tobacco’ because of risks to health

•  But group of scientists has dismissed trendy sugar-free anti-ageing plan

•  Dieters can forgo sugar in yoghurt, ready meals, dessert and biscuits

•  But cutting all sugar from your diet ‘would be very difficult to achieve’

With the UN warning sugar could be ‘the new tobacco’ because of its risks to health through obesity, you might think a diet that cuts it out  would get the thumbs up from experts.

But a group of scientists has just consigned a trendy sugar-free anti-ageing plan to a list of fad diets it dismisses as a waste of time and money, and potentially dangerous.

While dieters can forgo sugar in yoghurt, ready meals, dessert and biscuits, for example, having none at all is almost impossible.

Cubes: While dieters can forgo sugar in yoghurt, ready meals, dessert and biscuits, for example, having none at all is almost impossible

‘Cutting all sugar from your diet would be very difficult to achieve,’ said biochemist Leah Fitzsimmons, who even warned that such a drastic approach could be fatal.

‘Fruits, vegetables, dairy products and dairy replacements, eggs, alcohol and nuts all contain sugar, which would leave you with little other than meat and fats to eat – definitely not very healthy.’

The sugar-free diet was one of five assessed by dieticians, biochemists and other experts for the charity Sense About Science.

They also dismissed the caveman diet, said to be favoured by actor Matthew McConaughey, which holds that because we evolved eating a limited number of foods, we should return to our evolutionary roots and eat berries, vegetables and lean meat, while eschewing modern fare such as cereals, lentils, beans and dairy products.

But archaeologist Erika Nitsch said: ‘While it is true that fluffy white loaves of sandwich bread won’t have been known to our hunter-gatherer ancestors, if you are worried about a healthy diet, have lentil soup, but skip the Mars bar.’

Also rejected were diets that claim to selectively slim parts of the body by influencing hormones. For instance, it is said love handles are caused by an insulin imbalance and can be shrunk by eating less sugar.2

Basics: Dieticians, biochemists and other experts also dismissed the caveman diet, said to be favoured by actor Matthew McConaughey (pictured), which says we should eat berries, vegetables and lean meat

However, biochemist Madeline Burke said: ‘There is no evidence linking hormone synchronisation and weight loss.’

Meal-replacement drinks were also found wanting. Rob Hagan, a biomolecular scientist, said we need variety, not least to avoid ‘losing your enjoyment of food’ and becoming depressed.

‘Cutting all sugar from your diet would be very difficult to achieve’ says Leah Fitzsimmons, biochemist

The bizarre clay diet was also considered a health risk. Its followers believe a spoon of clay a day detoxifies the body, boosts the immune system and balances acidity levels.

However, dieticians warn it can cause problems from constipation to poisoning and say ‘detoxing’ is a marketing myth.

Sense About Science, which has created an online quiz on the issue called Spoof Diets, says: ‘People actually introduce malnutrition through overly restrictive diets… and they lose heart following unsustainable diets.’

Mileage on Ireland’s cars’  to be printed on NCT certs for first time  

    

The mileage on our cars is to be printed on NCT certificates under changes being introduced to the system from today.

The new odometer readings are being introduced as a consumer protection measure in a bid to prevent drivers being ripped off with clocked second-hand cars.

A maximum of three odometer readings will appear on the NCT certs of the future.

But the readings will give motorists planning on buying a second hand car, more information about a car’s useage and history over the course of its previous three NCT tests.

Meanwhile, car owners and traders who wish to present vehicles for inspection earlier than the previous norm of 90 days before the NCT due date, will now be allowed to do so.

The move has been introduced following lobbying by the motor retail industry and will allow a vehicle to receive a two-year certificate – or one-year for decade old and older vehicles – from the date it passes the test.

It will also benefit motorists whose cars are coming up to their tenth anniversary inspection.

Those presenting early for the tenth anniversary inspection will get a two-year rather than the one-year certificate, provided the vehicle passes the test.

“In order for a vehicle to be considered as presented voluntarily early, it must currently have an in-date, valid NCT test certificate or be younger than four years-90 days,” operators Applus said in a statement.

“This change is being introduced as members of the retail trade have lobbied for it as they see an advantage in being able to sell a vehicle with a full two year (or one year) certificate,” Applus added.

Meanwhile, in future, only a trade fob or driving licence will be deemed acceptable as a form of identification for traders looking for a short notice booking appointment.

“This measure is being introduced to bring greater transparency to transactions carried out in the test centre,” Applus said.

Trees save more than 850 lives a year in the USA,

A FOREST SERVICE STUDY STATES

  

A new study puts a definite number on the value of trees to human health. U.S. Forest Service scientists and collaborators calculate that trees, by removing air pollution as they respirate, save more than 850 lives a year in the U.S. and prevent 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms.

The study assessed the impact of trees on four pollutants for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established air quality standards: nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and fine particles (less than 2.5 microns in diameter).

The researchers calculated that trees remove less than 1 percent of air pollution — but say that even that seemingly small amount has substantial health impacts. The study, “Tree and Forest Effects on Air Quality and Human Health in the United States,” was published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution and is available online.

Not everything comes up roses when it comes to trees. Astudy published last year found that trees can add to air pollution by giving off a compound that helps produce lung-damaging particulate matter.    

Donie's Ireland daily news BLOG update

Ireland in talks to repay IMF portion of bailout loans early

 

The International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde with Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Italy’s Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni.

Move could save exchequer billions of euro in interest payments

Ireland would need the full agreement of EU member states to separate the IMF and European portions of the bailout package.

The Government is in discussions with its international lenders about repaying some of its bailout loans early, in a move that could save the exchequer billions of euro in interest payments.

Behind-the-scenes discussions have been going on between Dublin and European capitals to seek political support for the move, which would need sign-off from EU countries including Germany.

The Government is seeking to restructure only the IMF portion of its €64 billion bailout loan repayments, as it costs more because it commands a higher rate of interest than the EU loans.

But under the original bailout agreement struck in December 2010, any move byIreland to repay its loans early must apply to both the IMF and European portions of the package. While Ireland’s EU lenders could revise this clause, such a change would need the full agreement of member states.

Dublin officials have been assessing the appetite among member states to sanction such a move before a formal application is made.

Currently, Ireland is paying about €1 billion a year in interest on its IMF loans.

The cost of servicing the IMF loans is about 5 per cent – more than twice the interest rate charged for the European loans.

TWICE MARKET RATE

With Irish 10-year debt currently attracting a yield of just over 2 per cent in the market, Ireland is effectively paying more than twice the market rate for its IMF loans.

With most parliaments heading into summer recess any formal decision would not take place before the autumn, and hence is unlikely to be actually in place before this year’s budget in October. However, a reduction in interest rates could be a significant boost to the exchequer in the coming years.

While attention has focused on the Government’s pledge to secure retroactive direct bank recapitalisation for AIB andBank of Ireland, a decision to allow the early repayment of bailout loans may be more palatable to certain countries.

However, sources in Brussels said some euro zone members may resist any move to allow Ireland to repay its IMF loans early, as the EU would then take on the full risk of holding the outstanding loans.

The Irish Government must find a way to fund universal healthcare

FAIRLY AND PAINLESSLY AS POSSIBLE

 

MacGill school hears much work to be done before universal health insurance is rolled out here.

Anthony Staines says we really have to think carefully and we have to explore the models. Whatever we bring in, it’s going to change.”

The current health system is full of “galloping inefficiencies and galloping waste” but a new system must be found for taking money from people as painlessly as possible and as fairly as possible, the MacGill summer school has heard.

Anthony Staines, professor of health systems at Dublin City University, said it costs €4,000 a year for every “man, woman, child and babe in arms” in the State to pay for the system as it is structured.

He was giving a briefing on the Government’s plan to introduce a system of universal health insurance by 2016.

He said there was a serious job to do to design the new universal health insurance system and that he and his colleagues were not all agreed on how that system would operate.

“We are not trying to sell any particular solution,” he said. “We really have to think carefully and we have to explore the models. Whatever we bring in, it’s going to change. Parts of it are going to work and parts of it are not going to work.”

He said we could not just clone a system based on one in another country, but had to create one of our own.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect health service. Every health service has problems.”

Prof Staines said he had colleagues in Dublin who had 8,000 patients in their diabetes clinics. No other country had such a system.

“This is just inefficient. We need to send the money where the care should be delivered.”

PRIVATISATION CONCERN

He said he would personally be very concerned about privatisation of the healthcare system.

“If all else fails, the minister for health can sack the chief executive of a hospital group. He can’t sack the chief executive of the Mater Private,” he said.

But he said the private hospitals provided necessary capacity for the system. “So we have to find a way of bringing them into the tent.”

Prof Staines said much better information systems would be part of the new healthcare system, as would much more effective use of nurses.

He suspected there would be more large-scale practices with many GPs – probably salaried and not partners.

“I do think that is the way forward. That we make much more use of the skills of our nurses who are a remarkably competent group and we use our GPs in a different way.”

DIRECTING RESOURCES

Money in the healthcare system also needed to be directed at helping people take care of their illnesses at home and in the community.

Prof Staines said we did not at present have the structures to allow us to work out costs in the healthcare system.

“We are running information systems that would be regarded with contempt by a supermarket branch manager,” he said.

Louise O’Donnell, head of the Impact trade union’s health division, said universal health insurance for a family of four could cost as much as €3,600, making property taxes and water charges look “modest by comparison”.

She said the figure was based on former minister for health James Reilly’s “optimistic” estimate that the basic UHI package would cost €900 per individual.

The biggest burden would fall on families that have no health insurance and no medical card.

The HSE pays up to 27 times more than NHS for generic medicines

  

The HSE pays up to 27 times as much as Britain’s National Health Service for some generic medicines.

The higher costs here are despite the HSE’s introduction of a reference price for 20 of the most commonly used generic and off-patent medicines.

The Sunday Business Post reports that drugs including those to treat dementia, cancer, asthma, psychiatric conditions and high cholesterol are all far more expensive here than in the UK.

Last year legislation was introduced to allow pharmacists to supply generic substitutes of some of the most commonly prescribed medicines and reference pricing for authorised medicines began.

Ireland is not on the road to become a low carbon society, 

 SAYS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

  

Ireland is not on track to become a low carbon society, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It says we need a clear vision in Ireland for how we generate, how we supply and how we use clean energy if we are to play our part in lowering emissions of carbon dioxide, mainly from fossil fuels.

 Laura Burke, Director General of the EPA was speaking at the annual MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co. Donegal.

“Emissions of carbon dioxide, mainly from fossil fuels, are the big driver of climate change globally, and here in Ireland, where they make up 65% of our emissions. If we don’t move – and move with urgency – then we will face the consequences of increasingly negative impacts of climate change.”

She said Ireland needs to plan for and we need to move to zero fossil carbon energy in the next 30 years – by 2050 at the latest. “The stone age didn’t end because we ran out of stones. We now need to think the same way about fossil fuels – the fossil fuel age must end long before the supply runs out.”

The phasing out of fossil fuels has already begun in Ireland. Renewable energy reduced CO2 emissions by almost 2 million tonnes in 2012, replacing imported fossil fuels and saving an estimated €.25m in costs of fuel imports and emissions, according to the EPA. This is nowhere near enough progress M/s Burke said.

“We are not on track to a low carbon society. At this rate, we are not even on track to meet our targets under the EU Climate and Energy package for 2020. Missing these targets will entail costs for Ireland, and will also increase the difficulty and the cost of achieving a low carbon economy and society,” the EPA Director General said.

The impacts of climate change are already being felt in Ireland, according to the EPA, and in the coming years and decades, our coastline will come under ever greater threat because of rising sea levels and other changes in the ocean.

“Changes in the ocean and in sea levels will dominate our climate. We need to understand the impacts much better than we currently do. A repeat of this year’s storms, so devastating in parts of Cork and Limerick, would have been even more devastating if they came on top of an additional rise in sea level of 20 or 30cm. And even the most optimistic forecast shows our sea level rising by between 26 and 55cm before the end of the century.”

Campaign groups urge Irish public to use €2 plastic plug in water-charges protests

  

Anti-water charges campaign groups across Ireland are encouraging the public to remove their water meters and use a €2 plastic plug to keep their water flowing.

According to today’s Irish Mail on Sunday, nearly 300 of the devices have already been sold as part of a mass campaign of civil disobedience being run by more than 100 anti-water charges groups.

Irish Water has said it is aware of the practice and has warned people that tampering with a meter was an offence which could result in offenders spending three months in prison and paying a fine of up to €5,000.

More than 100 anti-water charges groups are due to meet in Cork next month to plan a national campaign against the levy.

A Solar Superstorm missed our earth in 2012

BUT YES ANOTHER ONE COULD STRIKE

  

In July of 2012, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) came close to hitting Earth, which could have left millions without power and trillions in damage.

Two years ago, the worst solar storm in almost two centuries tore through Earth’s orbit. Luckily, the storm’s path just missed Earth.

Now, scientists are shedding new light on the extreme solar event that didn’t make headlines but could have had a “catastrophic effect.”

“If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces,” Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado said in a statement released by NASA this week.

The storm happened on July 23, 2012, but if it had taken place a week earlier, when the storm site was directly facing Earth, billions of tons of highly charged particles would have rained down on the planet, scientists said.  These particles, which travel in clouds of plasma called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), would have reached Earth in about a day.

The resulting firestorm could have knocked out power for millions for months or years and caused more than $2 trillion in damage, scientists said.

While the 2012 storm didn’t strike Earth, it did come into contact with the spacecraft, STEREO-A, NASA said.  Since then, scientists have been researching whether a future galactic storm of the same magnitude is merely science fiction.

IT’S NOT.

Physicist Pete Riley in a paper published in Space Weather in February puts the odds of a solar storm hitting earth in the next 10 years at 12 percent.

The last solar storm that made a serious impact blacked out Quebec’s power grid in 1989, and storms in October and November in 2003 caused transformer failures in North America and Europe.

The worst solar storm on record happened in 1859 and was observed by amateur astronomer Richard Carrington. Because the so-called “Carrington event” occurred before the electrical age, there wasn’t significant damage on Earth.

A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences said another Carrington event today would be utterly debilitating.

“The loss of electricity would ripple across the social infrastructure with water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; loss of heating/air conditioning, sewage disposal, phone service, fuel re-supply and so on,” the report said.